Ellen Page - Mature Beyond Her Age...

Oprah is touting the virtues of Juno now (this of course could lead to an Oscar win, because the nomination was probably already a done deal before the Oprah campaign started). I must say, I also found the movie very entertaining (probably had nothing to do with seeing it on a date...right?). After reading several blog posts and other articles on the movie and/or Ellen Page, I decided it was time to watch her other movies (okay, one of them happened to be airing today on one of my many many movie channels making it rather convenient).

Hard Candy was released in 2006 (but listed as a 2005 movie) according to IMDB. Ellen Page will turn 21 in February this year, so she was probably 18ish when it was filmed. This is a good thing as the movie is a disturbing psychological "thriller" about potential pedophilia (not sure "thriller" is quite the right adjective/genre, but it is very much psychological). IMDB's plot outline describes it thusly: "A mature 14-year old girl meets a charming 32-year old photographer on the Internet. Suspecting that he is a pedophile, she goes to his home in an attempt to expose him."

But that is the only the beginning. I'll not ruin it for anyone by revealing the specifics. My interest is more the depth and range of Ms. Page's talent. But as she's been acting since she was 10, I don't think I can really address that now. I will say, however, that Juno and Hard Candy taken separately do show Ms. Page's depth of talent in that she conveys a maturity well beyond her age. I would suspect this is more telling about Ms. Page, herself, rather than about having had good direction. That said, I don't think that these two movies really reveal her range of talent by themselves, as I have seen suggested in other blogs and articles.

Perhaps her range is wide. I don't know. Having seen only the two movies now, what I will say is that I felt her character in Hard Candy seem to be a very dark version of the same character she played in Juno. The same "mature beyond her age" teen who seems to be at or beyond the intellectual and/or emotional level of the adults populating her world. Taken together, I don't see these two roles as demonstrating significant range beyond what is found in either one singly. Hopefully, in the future, I'll have the chance to see further examples of her talent. I suspect as experience comes with age, so will true acting maturity. And then we'll all see the true range of talent that her current work promises.